Direct Growth of Monolayer MoS$_2$ on Nanostructured Silicon Waveguides

Abstract

We report for the first time the direct growth of Molybdenum disulfide (MoS 2 ) monolayers on nanostructured silicon-on-insulator waveguides. Our results indicate the possibility of utilizing the Chemical Vapour Deposition (CVD) on nanostructured photonic devices in a scalable process. Direct growth of 2D material on nanostructures rectifies many drawbacks of the transfer-based approaches. We show that the van der Waals materials grow conformally across the curves, edges, and the silicon-SiO 2 interface of the waveguide structure. Here, the waveguide structure used as a growth substrate is complex not just in terms of its geometry but also due to the two materials (Si and SiO 2 ) involved. A transfer-free method like this yields a novel approach for functionalizing nanostructured, integrated optical architectures with an optically active direct semiconductor.